“UNHCR Somalia and its partners are closely monitoring the accessibility of roads in the 12 designated return areas,” it said.

However, UNHCR said flights to Mogadishu currently facilitated the voluntary return of those willing to travel by air as well as flights to Kismayu in southern Somalia.

More than two million Somalis have been displaced in one of the world’s most protracted humanitarian crises that have now entered its third decade.

An estimated 1.1 million people are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) within Somalia and nearly 900,000 are refugees in the region.

Experts say continuing political and security stabilisation progress in Somalia, along with growing pressures in hosting countries, makes this a critical moment to renew efforts to find durable solutions for Somali refugees. (Xinhua/NAN)